Matt Buck’s Hack Cartoons Diary

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for tribunecartoons.com

The first criminal trial resulting from the News of the World phone hacking revelations has started.

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons

Do not feed the trolls, online or otherwise.

© Matt Buck Hack Cartoons for Hampshire Chronicle

After the long wait for reform of the global and UK banking industry there is some news as a community ‘Local bank’ will be opened in Winchester in 2014. Read all about it in the Hampshire Chronicle.

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for Hampshire Chronicle

Teachers from Hampshire are among many from The NASUWT and NUT striking this week. Read all about it in the Hampshire Chronicle.

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for http://tribunecartoons.com

Following the conclusions delivered by part one of Lord Justice Brian Leveson’s Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press the three major political parties have agreed there should be a state sanctioned regulation of the publishing industry.

Interestingly, the politicians of all parties were unable to agree a straightforward piece of statute (law) to deliver this but have instead resorted to an odd instrument – a Royal Charter – which is part of Britain’s curious and piecemeal constitution of conventions and behaviours.

A Royal Charter is governed by The Privy Council which is a large advisory body for the monarch and is composed almost entirely of current and retired politicians.

The final Charter will be imposed on the print industry using the Royal Prerogative.

The ‘press’ inevitably shows every sign of resisting this imposition which breaks more than 300 years of freedom to publish (subject of course to the many challenges of the other existing laws, the Police and m’learned friends.)

The objections to politicians having any hand in oversight of what can be published are strongly held and often based in a straight forward philosophical objection. I’d count myself of this opinion. Liz Gerard explains it well in a piece at UK Press Gazette noting an underlying stink of class especially about tabloid newspapers. The Human Rights lawyer Lord Lester offers a view about the plentiful existing criminal laws too.

The Leveson Inquiry was established by Prime Minister Cameron during July 2011 as a series of stories about the employment of his Head of Communications Andy Coulson, a former editor of News of the World, which caused him acute public embarrassment.

If I was to try and type this process in tabloidese, I’d hazard a – PM passes turd to lawyer.

The lawyer has, naturally enough, turned this horror into something equivalent to a piece of law. Thank the politicians.

For his own part Andy Coulson is due on criminal trial at the end of October 2013. Perhaps the law of unintended consequences will strike again.

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for Hampshire Chronicle

Plans have been announced for the reductions in the Police service for rural Hampshire following a recent warning from the new Police and Crime Commissioner. Read all about it in the Hampshire Chronicle.

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for Hampshire Chronicle

There is a concern about the numbers of young children who are taking up smoking. Although who knows where they are getting the money! Read all about it in the Hampshire Chronicle.

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for http://tribunecartoons.com

I’d agree profit isn’t a dirty word or idea but if this is a top line of rhetoric to be briefed out ahead of the PM’s speech at Manchester today then the party conference season has not gone quite as well for the government as they might have wished.

The speech last week in Brighton by the leader of the opposition was populist and generally well received. It also appears to have provoked some hastened offers from the government on the controversial ‘Help to Buy’ housing policy.

Briefly, Help to Buy involves the government underwriting personal mortgage risk and it is a policy which the chief economist at the Institute of Directors described, colourfully, as ‘very dangerous’.

But it did make for a cartoon.

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons for tribunecartoons.com

One of the little trials of life as a news cartoonist when working for print publication is being overtaken by the news. In this case it was by former Labour Home Secretary Jackie Smith. I was drawing this joke on Tuesday morning. I had just finished it and was filing to Tribune when I heard the Smith joke go out over the airwaves and saw it online. I imagine the curses could have been heard in Edinburgh zoo.